Kolkata, April 1Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Thursday ducked aquestion on the return of Uma Bharti into the party, saying theleadership will spell out its stand on the issue after she approachedit.

"We will finalise our stand when she tells me or some other leader,"Gadkari said at a media meet here.

However, he was categorical that so far the leadership has notinitiated any dialogue with the firebrand Hindutva leader about herreturn.

Uma Bharti last week resigned as president of the Bharatiya Jan Shakti(BJS), a party she floated four years ago following her expulsion fromthe BJP.

She was a senior leader of the BJP and a central minister who hadopenly revolted against L.K. Advani in 2004, triggering her temporaryexpulsion and a show cause notice.

Her expulsion was revoked later, but in 2005 she was sacked again whenshe opposed the appointment of Shivraj Singh Chauhan as the chiefminister of Madhya Pradesh.

In 2006, Uma Bharti floated the BJS, saying she would revive the Hindumovement in India. However, she received a severe drubbing in theassembly election from her home turf in Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarhconstituency.

Kolkata, April 1Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Thursday ducked aquestion on the return of Uma Bharti into the party, saying theleadership will spell out its stand on the issue after she approachedit.

"We will finalise our stand when she tells me or some other leader,"Gadkari said at a media meet here.

However, he was categorical that so far the leadership has notinitiated any dialogue with the firebrand Hindutva leader about herreturn.

Uma Bharti last week resigned as president of the Bharatiya Jan Shakti(BJS), a party she floated four years ago following her expulsion fromthe BJP.

She was a senior leader of the BJP and a central minister who hadopenly revolted against L.K. Advani in 2004, triggering her temporaryexpulsion and a show cause notice.

Her expulsion was revoked later, but in 2005 she was sacked again whenshe opposed the appointment of Shivraj Singh Chauhan as the chiefminister of Madhya Pradesh.

In 2006, Uma Bharti floated the BJS, saying she would revive the Hindumovement in India. However, she received a severe drubbing in theassembly election from her home turf in Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarhconstituency.

"Amitabh is a great actor of our country. He has enhanced India'sreputation worldwide. Just because madam (Sonia Gandhi) and'rajkumar' (Rahul Gandhi) do not like him, Bachchan is beingblacklisted. This is shameful for Indian democracy," Gadkari said,referring to the Congress criticism of the actor's presence at theopening of the Bandra-Worli sealink.

"Is this the tolerance Jawaharlal Nehru preached? Is Amitabh a DawoodIbrahim?" Gadkari said.

Gadkari's reacted differently when asked about the resignation of thevice chancellor of the Devi Ahilya University in Indore for invitingCongress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to a programme.

"These two incidents should not be compared. University is meant foreducation. Politicians should not be invited there.

"Yesterday, they invited Rahul. Tomorrow they will invite me andeducation will suffer," he said.

Chandigarh, April 1Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Thursday sought help fromPrime Minister Manmohan Singh regarding 17 Indian youth, including 16from Punjab, sentenced to death by a court in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) on charges of murdering a Pakistani national.

In a letter to the prime minister Thursday, Badal urged him tointervene immediately with the UAE government to ensure justice forthe youth.

Badal pointed that 17 people had been convicted for a single murderand it looked out of place.

"Therefore, we have to be more cautious to see that there was nomiscarriage of justice," Badal said.

The chief minister also requested the prime minister to advise theexternal affairs ministry to provide necessary legal aid to the youth.

Badal pointed out that labourers and skilled workers from Punjab hadworked day and night during last 25 years for infrastructuredevelopment in the UAE and other Middle East countries.

He said that all these Punjabi youth were the sole breadwinners oftheir respective families and most of them had mortgaged their smallland-holdings to arrange for their visa and visit to the UAE.

New Delhi, April 1One person was killed in a shootout between two groups in Delhi,police said Thursday.

"The shootout took place in the early hours of Wednesday in Bhajanpuraarea in north-east Delhi. The deceased has been identified as Ajay,who also had a criminal background," a police officer told mediapersons Thursday evening.

"Ajay was rushed to the G.T.B. Hospital where he was declared broughtdead," the officer said.

"Five live cartridges have been recovered from the spot," added theofficer.

Ajay was recently released from jail, and lived in Seelampur area.

"He was a member of a gang led by Lallu Pehlwan. The deceased hadcommitted several crimes in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh as well,"added the officer.

But the police officials did not say how the shootout began, addingfurther details were being investigated.

Jammu, April 1The Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir police Thursday achieved amajor success, killing six Pakistani terrorists belonging to theLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in a four-hour long gun battle in Rajouridistrict of the state.

The army had to use its paratroopers to neutralise the terrorists,hiding in forests of Baghla in in Kalakote area of the district, 200km north of Jammu.

A police spokesman said that the gunfight broke out around 1 p.m.after the militants, asked to surrender, opened fire on the securityforces.

"The terrorists also lobbed grenades at the security personnel. Thefire was returned," he said.

Rajouri Senior Superintendent of Police Shafkat Watali told IANS overphone that the killing of six terrorists is a "big success for thesecurity forces and a big blow to the LeT".

The six terrorists are suspected to be part of a group of infiltratorsthat had crossed over to India early this week.

This was the second gun battle with the militants in Kalakote area inthe past three days. Four terrorists and three soldiers were killedWednesday after an 18-hour gun battle, which started Tuesday eveningin Kandi area in the forests of Rajouri.

Siliguri (West Bengal), March 23Kanu Sanyal, who spearheaded the Naxalbari uprising in 1967 givingbirth to a Maoist movement that now threatens the Indian state, wasTuesday found hanging in his humble home here. He was 78, an ailingbachelor and a virtual pauper.

One of the founding members of the Left extremist movement in India,no one could say why Sanyal killed himself. But police officersmaintained it was suicide.

His thatched home is located in the Siliguri sub-division ofDarjeeling district, where Sanyal and a select few made history overfour decades ago when they launched a violent peasant uprising inNaxalbari village.

After endorsement of the bloody tactics by Mao's Communists, Naxalbaribecame a household word in India and beyond, unleashing a violentmovement that continues to haunt the country.

Guided by Charu Mazumdar, a maverick who gave ideological shape tothat peasant movement, Sanyal helped found the Communist Party ofIndia-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML), whose adherants came to be dubbedNaxalites.

The CPI-ML, which quickly won recognition from Beijing, was born aftera crippling split in the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Itunleashed violence across the length and breadth of India that leftmany thousands -- Maoists, security personnel and civilians -- dead.

By the time the Indian state cracked down hard on the CPI-ML and itsgeneral secretary Mazumdar died in Kolkata's Presidency Jail in July1972, Sanyal was a broken man.

Although he distanced himself from Mazumdar's advocacy of annihilationof "class enemies", Sanyal remained wedded to Maoist ideology - butminus its gory past.

A graduate from Siliguri's A.C. College, Sanyal suffered repeatedimprisonment before he decided, in the 1980s, to reorganise thescattered Indian Maoists.

The experiment was a failure although by now he was ready to take partin the "bourgeois democracy" he had once denounced. However candidateshe put up lost badly in the hills of West Bengal.

All that disappointed him. Over the years, he not only suffered frompoor health but he was disgusted with the violent tactics of thepresent lot of Indian Maoists, who incidentally consider Mazumdar astheir god.

Although an iconic figure in and around the village of Naxalbari, heled a spartan life, keeping mostly to himself.

When the police entered his home Tuesday, they found few possessions-- apart from his books, clothes and utensils and some framed blackand white photographs of leaders from the Communist pantheon.

In one of his last interviews, Sanyal said: "I was popular once. Ihave lost my popularity. I am unwell. That is the reason I cannotorganise the masses any more."

Azizul Haq, one of his contemporaries from the Naxalbari era, shedtears in Kolkata as he paid an emotive homage to his former comrade.

"Sanyal will be remembered as one of the best leaders of the Naxalitemovement," Haq told IANS. "Although he was ailing, he never tooktreatment from any government hospital. His argument was he could notapproach the state when he was fighting it."

It was in the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) that Sanyalbegan his political career decades ago before switching over to thebreakaway CPI-M in 1964. Once he joined CPI-ML, the Naxalite leaderdenounced both the CPI and CPI-M as revisionists.

But on Tuesday, his former ideological foes hailed him.

"He was a very popular leader in the early days of Naxalbari," CPI'sS. Sudhakar Reddy told IANS. "Although we disagree with his Maoistideology, he contributed greatly to the communist movement."

CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury said Sanyal's death was "veryunfortunate" and added that the Naxal leader had been critical of theline adopted by the present Maoist guerrillas.

"After Nandigram and Lalgarh (in West Bengal), Sanyal had been sayingthat the line adopted by Maoists do not conform to the revolutionaryunderstanding adopted when the Naxalite movement started," Yechuryadded.

New Delhi, March 23The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday condoled the death of Naxalite leader KanuSanyal, who once violently opposed both parties.

Although they disagreed with their ideology for years, both the CPIand CPI-M said that Sanyal contributed to the growth of the communistmovement in the country.

"He was a very popular leader in the early days of the Naxalbarimovement," CPI deputy general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy told IANS.

"Although we disagree with his ideology of armed struggle, he hadcontributed greatly to the communist movement."

Reddy said Sanyal had differences with the present Maoist movement,led by the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist.

Sanyal was Tuesday found hanging at his house Siliguri in West Bengal.He was 78. According to police, Sanyal had committed suicide.

He was one of the protagonists of the 1967 peasant uprising inNaxalbari village that gave birth to the Maoist movement in India.

CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury said Sanyal's death was "veryunfortunate" and added that the Naxal leader had been critical of theline adopted by the present Maoist guerrillas.

"After Nandigram and Lalgarh (in West Bengal), Sanyal had been sayingthat the line adopted by Maoists do not conform to the revolutionaryunderstanding adopted when the Naxalite movement started," Yechuryadded.

Ranchi, March 20Maoist rebels abducted five government officials, including anadditional district magistrate, at gun point from Latehar district inJharkhand Saturday noon, but released them a few hours later, policesaid.

Latehar Superintendent of Police Kuldip Dewadi said more than fivearmed Communist Party of India-Maoist rebels abducted the fiveofficials, including ADM Shrawan Soya, at gun point.

"The Maoists were afraid of the vigorous anti-Naxal (Maoist) offensivelaunched by the police, and released all the abducted officials afterfive hours," Dewadi said later.

The prompt action of the police forced the rebels to release all theabducted men, he said.

The rebels Saturday also released four other workers, including juniorengineer Ranjeet Kumar, in Simdega district whom they had kidnappedThursday night. More than 15 Maoist rebels from the 'Hill Panther'group abducted the four men working for the Ram Rekha Dam and looted35 mobile phones, Rs.2 lakh in cash and one gun from the site, said apolice official.

Anti-Maoist operations are going on in five places in Jharkhand - WestSinghbhum, East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Seraikela districts.

"An inter-state operation has been launched against the extremistssimultaneously in seven-eight districts of Jharkhand and West Bengal,"Neyaz Ahmad, Jharkhand director general of police, told reporters.

The operations are on mainly in the bordering districts of Jharkhand.The West Bengal police are mounting vigil along the border to checkMaoist infiltration.

In Jharkhand, out of the 24 districts, Maoist rebels are active in 21.About 1,900 people, including 350 security personnel, have been killedin Maoist-related violence in the past few years.

Ranchi, March 20Maoist rebels abducted five government officials, including anadditional district magistrate, at gun point from Latehar district inJharkhand Saturday noon, but released them a few hours later, policesaid.

Latehar Superintendent of Police Kuldip Dewadi said more than fivearmed Communist Party of India-Maoist rebels abducted the fiveofficials, including ADM Shrawan Soya, at gun point.

"The Maoists were afraid of the vigorous anti-Naxal (Maoist) offensivelaunched by the police, and released all the abducted officials afterfive hours," Dewadi said later.

The prompt action of the police forced the rebels to release all theabducted men, he said.

The rebels Saturday also released four other workers, including juniorengineer Ranjeet Kumar, in Simdega district whom they had kidnappedThursday night. More than 15 Maoist rebels from the 'Hill Panther'group abducted the four men working for the Ram Rekha Dam and looted35 mobile phones, Rs.2 lakh in cash and one gun from the site, said apolice official.

Anti-Maoist operations are going on in five places in Jharkhand - WestSinghbhum, East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Seraikela districts.

"An inter-state operation has been launched against the extremistssimultaneously in seven-eight districts of Jharkhand and West Bengal,"Neyaz Ahmad, Jharkhand director general of police, told reporters.

The operations are on mainly in the bordering districts of Jharkhand.The West Bengal police are mounting vigil along the border to checkMaoist infiltration.

In Jharkhand, out of the 24 districts, Maoist rebels are active in 21.About 1,900 people, including 350 security personnel, have been killedin Maoist-related violence in the past few years.

Mumbai, Feb, 26Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Hasan Gafoor, who served as citypolice chief during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was Fridayappointed director general of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Gafoor is at present the managing director of the Maharashtra StateHousing & Welfare Corporation. He will be succeeded in that post byP.P. Shrivastava, who has been promoted to the rank of DGP.

The post of ACB chief was laying vacant after A.N. Roy was appointedthe state police chief.

Another senior officer, Sanjeev Dayal, will be the new DGP (SpecialOperations) - a crucial post which was lying vacant since Jan 1 afterJayant Umranikar retired. In the post, Dayal will oversee the workingof three critical units - the state Intelligence Department, Anti-Terrorism Squad and Anti-Naxal Operations.

Gafoor was shunted out as DGP (Housing), after the 26/11 attacks. ThePradhan-Balachandran Vommittee which enquired into the various aspectsof the terror attacks, indicted him, saying Gafoor failed to provide"visible and overt leadership". However, the state government did notaccept this.

A few days before the first anniversary of the terror attacks lastyear, Gafoor, in an interview to a newsweekly, blamed four city policeofficials for not responding to the call of duty.

The comments kicked up a major controversy, prompting the stategovernment to seek an explanation from him.

* Party spokesman says US wants to protect ISI by resistinginterrogation of the terror suspect in India

NEW DELHI: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday asked theIndian government to formally seek the extradition of terror suspectDavid Headley from the US.

The opposition party demanded the government to follow the extraditiontreaty and the mutual legal assistance treaty it has with US to bringHeadley to India. "He must be tried in India for the massacre of somany innocent people and be given the death penalty. India must nevermiss this historic opportunity to establish once for all that Pakistanindeed is the epicentre of international terror," BJP chief spokesmanRavi Shankar Prasad told a press conference. He asserted that thebargain plea agreement between Headley and the US prosecutors was notbinding on India at all. Prasad said India should also implement twoUN resolutions-1373 and 1267, under which every country was obliged tosupport the other country in the investigation and trial of terrorrelated offences.

Protecting ISI: Commenting on why the US was resisting Headley'sextradition and interrogation by Indian officials, Prasad suspectedthat the US might want to protect the ISI, as its involvement interror attacks on Indian soil would be exposed and said the Americansshould be reminded that the war against terrorism was being fought bythe whole world and not by a single country. The BJP spokesmanregretted that the judgement of the Mumbai attacks case, which wouldbe announced on May 3, would only punish Ajmal Kasab, Fahim Ansari andSalahuddin Ahmad, without nabbing the main planners and financiers ofthe attacks who were based in Pakistan. "Even the prosecution did notdispute that the three who were tried for the Mumbai attacks,including Kasab were only secondary players," he said. Prasad saidthat the trial of Kasab and others had highlighted the role ofPakistan-based Laskhar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) in the Mumbai attacks butexpressed optimism that Islamabad would prosecute LeT chief HafizSaeed and others despite the fact that India provided evidence againstthem in a dozen dossiers, which were handed over to Pakistan. "Thereason is obvious. Many of the key conspirators behind the Mumbaiterror attacks have been the blue-eyed boys of the ISI and any fairtrial would expose the real face of the intelligence agency," hesaid.

Prasad said India must not lose any opportunity to get him back intoIndia, subject him to custodial interrogation, expose the entireconspiracy including the fact that there is no difference betweenstate and non-state actors in Pakistan. The BJP spokesman said much ofthe planning, conspiracy and logistical coordination was done by DavidHeadley before the terror attacks in Mumbai but saved himself from thedeath penalty by entering into a plea bargain agreement in a Chicagocourt. iftikhar gilani

Saturday, March 27, 2010 Praful Bidwai Is the Bharatiya Janata Partyobsessed with proving itself the sectarian, confrontationist oddballof Indian politics? Last fortnight's developments suggest so. Take theshenanigans of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. A SpecialInvestigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the 2002Gujarat pogrom summoned him to question him about his role in thekillings. Many questions had been raised about his role by formerGujarat Director General of Police RB Sreekumar, countless victims,independent inquiries, and sting-operation disclosures by...

NEW DELHI, April 2, 2010 CBI must file appeal in Lalu assets case: BJPNeena VyasShare · print · T+ With the Supreme Court on Thursdayrejecting the Bihar government's right to appeal against the acquittalof Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad in the disproportionateassets case, the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that the CentralBureau of Investigation file an appeal.

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "We do not want tocomment on the Supreme Court. However, we do feel that the trialcourt's judgment of acquittal in the case was most vulnerable in lawand the CBI must appeal against it."

He said the CBI had, in fact, wanted to appeal against the trial courtverdict, but "some legal advisers in Delhi" were against the appeal,and, therefore, no appeal was filed.

It was only because the CBI did not appeal against the acquittalverdict that the Bihar government decided to appeal in the Patna HighCourt. The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the State governmentdid not have the right to appeal.

The Apex Court's ruling comes just months ahead of crucial Assemblypolls in Bihar. The BJP fears that the ruling coalition in the State,of which it is a part along with the Janata Dal (United), will not beable to exploit the assets case politically during the election.

NEW DELHI, April 2, 2010 Vested interest in U.S. will scuttle accessto Headley: BJPSpecial CorrespondentShare · print · T+ The United States' commitment to fightterrorism globally is being tested, as also India's strategicpartnership with America, on the issue of David Coleman Headley'sextradition to India and his custodial interrogation by Indianagencies, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad's charge against the U.S. was thatthe case of Headley, who pleaded guilty of being part of the 26/11terror plot, gave the impression that America was "soft" on terrorwhen India was the target.

Referring to some reports that Headley might have been a double agent,Mr. Prasad said that possibly vested interests in the U.S.establishment did not want his role to be fully exposed. However, forIndia and the world, it was crucial that the role of Lashkar-e-Taibaoperatives in Pakistan and the involvement of the Inter ServicesIntelligence and Pakistan's Army in the Mumbai attack plot wasexposed.

Headley's was a "copybook case for extradition," Mr. Prasad said. Theextradition agreement between the U.S. and India apart, two UnitedNations resolutions (1373 and 1267) obligated every country to supportothers in the investigation and trial of terror suspects.

The BJP demanded that the government take immediate steps to secureHeadley's extradition and ensure that he faced trial in India for thedeath of 166 innocent victims of the 26/11 attacks. It would be in theinterest of the global fight against terrorism to expose the Lahoreand Karachi angle of the conspiracy.

NEW DELHI, April 2, 2010 Child rights panel to monitor RTEimplementationAarti DharShare · print · T+ The National Commission for Protection ofChild Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementationof the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

A special division within the panel will undertake this task in thecoming months and a special toll-free helpline to register complaintswill be set up.

The NCPCR has invited all civil society groups, students, teachers,administrators, artists, government officials, legislators and membersof the judiciary apart from all other stakeholders to join hands andwork together to build a movement to ensure that every child of thiscountry is in school and gets at least 8 years of quality education.

The Right to Education Act, 2009 — that became effective from Thursday— makes elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21 (A)of the Constitution. Every child in the age group of 6-14 will beprovided elementary education in the age-appropriate classroom in thevicinity of his/her neighbourhood. Any cost that prevents a child fromaccessing school will be borne by the State which shall have theresponsibility of enrolling the child as well as ensuring attendanceand completion of eight years of schooling. No child will be deniedadmission for want of documents, no child will be turned away if theadmission cycle in the school is over and no child will be asked totake an admission test.

Into the mainstreamChildren with disabilities will also be educated in the mainstreamschools. Further, all private schools shall be required to enrolchildren from weaker sections and disadvantaged communities in theirincoming class to the extent of 25 per cent of their enrolment, bysimple random selection. No seats in this quota will be left vacant.These children will be treated on a par with all other children in theschool and subsidised by the State at the rate of average per learnercosts in the government schools.

All schools will have to follow norms and standards laid out in theAct and all private schools will have to apply for recognition,failing which they will be penalised to the tune of Rs. 1 lakh and ifthey still continue to function, they will be liable to pay Rs. 10,000per day as fine.

Two days after five people were given the capital punishment by acourt for the so-called honour-killing of a young couple here inHaryana, the family members of the victims are more tense than theyare relieved. "The verdict has done justice to my son's death, but ithas not changed the way the village works," says Chandrapati Berwalwho fought the legal battle.

She is the mother of Manoj, who along with Babli was murdered threeyears ago by Babli's relatives on the orders of a 'khap panchayat' forhaving married within the same gotra. But Tuesday's landmark verdictseems to have made little difference to the minds of the votaries ofthe system of 'khap panchayats', which are caste-based.

"The panchayat only intended to bring about a moral balance andinculcate honour in youngsters, although its method was perhaps a bittoo harsh," said a resident of the village, who refused to reveal hisname. Asked about the verdict, he said: "The panchayat killed twopersons and the court will kill five. At the end of it all the villagehas lost seven lives. I don't see justice in any of the verdicts."

"The villagers, who have boycotted us socially and financially, willnot change their mindset. The verdict has given a milder form ofpunishment to the actual instigator, sarpanch Ganaga Raj," said Ms.Chandrapati. She alleged that panchayats could get away with givingsuch harsh orders and executing them only owing to political backingand the inefficiency of the police. For the last three years onepolice constable has been guarding her doors, but since the verdict onTuesday the police presence around her house in Kerora village hasincreased.

"Earlier there was one man, now there are two jeeps. But I and mydaughter are as unsafe as we ever were. The police could do nothingwhen a few goons went after my son and his wife. What will the policedo if all of them barge into my house at once?"

A tense calm prevails in the dusty village. Nobody will publiclydiscuss the matter, and except in Ms. Chandrapati's house none daresto talk about it even indoors. Village sarpanch Karambeer Singhrefused even to come out of his house. The street where Babli oncelived wears a pall of gloom. The women in Babli's maternal house sitwith stony expressions and refuse to identify themselves or talk toanyone, especially mediapersons, who are often seen as the villainswho exaggerated the issue.

"They tried to hide their sin from us, and then they tried tothreaten, boycott and even bribe us so that we keep quiet. My son willnot return but they will bear the pain of their wrongs so that suchinhuman decisions are never taken by anyone," she said.

A few kilometres from Ms. Chandrapati's village, in Matour village,Hari Krishan cries with his son's photographs in his hands. His hopeis that a similar judgment would come in his case as well: his 23-year-old son was lynched by a crowd for marrying a girl from theneighbouring village. Ved Pal and his wife Sonia's marriage wasaccepted by both the families as they were of the same caste althoughthe gotras differed. But later the 'khap panchayat' instigated Sonia'sfamily to forcibly marry the 17-year-old to a 50-year-old man andlater kill Ved Pal.

"My son was killed by a mob because a panchayat felt that marrying agirl from the neighbouring village was 'incest'. And I was expected tomake peace with this explanation? After this verdict I feel thatunlike the politicians and the police, the law is not going to beunjust to us. But the sarpanch [Ganga Raj] should have been given thedeath penalty as he was the root cause of the trouble," said Mr. HariKrishan.

Mr. Hari Krishan, who has cancer, said he too was approached by thesarpanch of Sonia village for a compromise. "They offered me Rs.25lakh. They think a father can forgive his son's murderer just becausehe is poor. I will fight this case till the last drop of blood."

This father then cried out aloud, and asked: "Because of the khap somany families have lost their breadwinners. Why didn't they let themlive? What honour comes from giving widows and orphans to homes thatwere otherwise happy?"

Ahmedabad, April 1, 2010 Order against summoning Modi not final:NanavatiManas DasguptaShare · print · T+AP Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi gestures during a function inGandhinagar on March 28, 2010. The Nanavati panel has told the GujaratHigh Court that the option to summon Mr. Modi in connection with post-Godhra riots is still open. RelatedNEWSSIT completes Modi interrogation

The G.T. Nanavati-Akshay Mehta judicial inquiry commission probing theGodhra train carnage and the post-Godhra communal riots in 2002 toldthe Gujarat High Court on Thursday that its September 18, 2009 orderrejecting the plea of the Jansangharsh Manch to summon Chief MinisterNarendra Modi for cross-examination was "not a final order."

A letter written by the commission secretary was submitted to the HighCourt by Advocate-General Kamal Trivedi. The court had not opened thesealed cover and ordered that it be kept in the records until furtherorders. But, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S.J.Mukhopadhyaya and Justice Akil Kureshi told the Manch's counsel thatthe commission had not taken a "final" decision on not summoning Mr.Modi. The next hearing on the Manch petition seeking a direction tothe commission to summon the Chief Minister was posted for June 17.

The commission's letter was in response to the March 22 courtdirective seeking a clarification on its stand on the Manch plea forsummoning Mr. Modi.

Manch petition

Manch advocate Mukul Sinha had filed the petition following thecommission's September 2009 order in which it had ignored its plea tosummon Mr. Modi but had asked only three of his personal secretariesto submit details of mobile phone calls during the 2002 communalriots.

Besides Mr Modi, the Manch, in its application to the commission onAugust 31, 2007, also demanded summoning of the then Minister of Statefor Home Gordhan Jhadaphia, the then Health Minister and presentlySpeaker Ashok Bhatt, and the then Deputy Commissioner of Police incharge of the affected areas R.J. Savani, among others.

The commission rejected the plea saying it did not find the demand forcross-examining Mr. Modi and others justified, following which theManch filed the petition in the High Court. A single judge Bench hadearlier rejected the Manch petition.

Gandhinagar, March 28, 2010 Modi says he recalled the events eightsyears backPTIShare · print · T+ When the mediapersons pointed out that hehad been in the dock for the last 8 years over the riots, Mr. Modishotback with a smile, "You have still kept me in the dock."

Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was questioned in two marathonsessions by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT in a Gujarat riots case,has said he recalled to the extent possible the sequence of eventsthat had taken place eight years ago.

Claiming that his quizzing, the first since the communal violence of2002, has concluded, he declined to go into the details of hisquestioning, saying that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has tosubmit its report to the apex court.

"I have been told by SIT that your work is over", 59-year-old Mr. Modisaid at 0100 hours on Sunday emerging from the second round of hisquestioning at the SIT office at the old secretariat building.

Mr. Modi claimed he had answered all questions put by the SIT and thathe had recalled to the extent possible the sequence of events that hadtaken place eight years ago.

The Chief Minister said his statement was recorded by the SITinvestigators after which he signed it.

Asked what sort of questions he was asked, Mr. Modi said, "I cannotshare that with you because the SIT has to submit its report to theSupreme Court."

Though there was no official word on the questioning, Mr. Modi is saidto have replied to 62 of the 68 questions put to him in the five-hour-long first session that had begun at noon on Saturday.

Mr. Modi returned to the SIT office at 9 pm and faced a second roundof questioning for four hours as he was keen that the entire exercisebe completed in one day.

The BJP leader is facing allegations of omission and commission withregard to the mob attack on a housing society in which a formerCongress MP Ehsan Jafri and 68 others were killed. He was questionedby a team of officers headed by A K Malhotra, a former CBI DIG.

When pointed out that he had been in the dock for the last eight yearsover the riots, a smiling Mr. Modi said, "You have still kept me inthe dock."

"Vistaar se batcheet ki (we spoke in detail)," he said, adding, "Underthe Indian Constitution, the law is supreme. As a common man, CM, I ambound by the Indian Constitution and the law. No one can be above thelaw."

SIT chairman R. K. Raghavan was not present in his office when Mr.Modi appeared in the first session in response to the panel's summons.

"This was the first time in eight years that someone wanted to speakto me on the issue and I attended that", Mr. Modi said.

Taking a dig at his critics, he said, "God give good sense to thosewho said I have not spoken for eight years.

"I hope that today's happening will give good sense to those who arekeen to spread misinformation and those who spread lies", the ChiefMinister said.

NEW DELHI, March 28, 2010 Modi is law-abiding: BJPNeena VyasShare · Comment · print · T+ Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi's declaration that he was committed to the Constitutionof India and the rule of law was on Saturday held up by the BharatiyaJanata Party as a shining example for all.

"Mr. Modi has always declared he will abide by the law. He has highregard for the Special Investigation Team appointed by the SupremeCourt and on Saturday he appeared before it. He answered questions putto him by the SIT and what he said is now between him and the SIT,"BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told The Hindu overtelephone from Patna.

He said it was true the party had reservations about "certainactivists" who have revelled in "Modi-baiting" and were silent aboutvictims of terror attacks and naxal violence. "Is it that thosevictims do not need justice," Mr. Prasad asked.

Mr. Modi's first round of questioning by the SIT lasted five hoursending at around 5.30 p.m.

Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, who held up Mr. Modi as anhonourable law-abiding man, lashed out at the media for wronglyreporting that he had been summoned by the SIT to appear before it onMarch 21 when the truth was that he had been asked to accept amutually acceptable date in the week starting March 21. It was thenagreed that he would appear before the SIT on March 27 and he did.

She said the media was holding a trial of its own and was assumingguilt when there was none. "He had only gone to assist the SIT andcooperate with it," she said. "The BJP respects the SIT and otherinstitutions and we work within the framework of law," she said.

However, she did admit that the SIT was set up because the SupremeCourt was not satisfied by the manner in which the cases flowing fromthe 2002 riots were being handled by the Gujarat police and theGujarat courts.

At some levels in the party, questions have begun to be asked whetherthe BJP would treat Mr. Modi differently from how it has treated otherleaders. It was recalled that Madan Lal Khurana was forced to resignas the Delhi Chief Minister as soon as his name figured in the'hawala' scandal although there was no formal charge sheet. UmaBharati was forced to resign as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister after anold case related to hoisting of the national flag in Karnataka cameup. The question that is being asked is whether Mr. Modi will be askedby the party to put in his papers if an FIR were to be filed againsthim.

Ms. Sitharaman on Saturday found fault with a reported statement bythe Law Minister advising Mr. Modi to cooperate with the SIT. "Suchadvice is unacceptable," she said.

NEW DELHI, March 28, 2010 SIT acting on Zakia Jaffrey's petitionraising questions of state complicitySpecial CorrespondentShare · Comment · print · T+ The Special InvestigationTeam, which interrogated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi onSaturday, is acting on a petition filed by Zakia Jaffrey and theCitizens for Justice and Peace. That petition alleged the involvementof Mr. Modi and 61 other senior politicians, police officers andbureaucrats from the State in the mass killing of Muslims in Gujaratfollowing the Godhra incident of February 27, 2002.

Among the questions the petition raised were:

— Why were there no minutes of the meeting which Mr. Modi held withsenior officers for a review of the situation arising out of theGodhra train burning incident?

— There are some State intelligence reports of a Vishwa Hindu Parishadmeeting held at 4 p.m. at Ahmedabad on February 27, 2002. Who attendedthis meting? Were any elected members of the Gujarat legislature andthe State Cabinet present?

— Why were the bodies of the victims of the Godhra train carnagebrought to Ahmedabad, and why were they paraded in streets? Who tookthat decision? Did senior police officials or the DGP report to theChief Minister or higher officers in writing about the likelyrepercussions of parading the bodies?

— Why was no preventive action taken when a bandh call had alreadybeen given by VHP?

— Why was the Army not called out immediately and why was there adelay in the deployment of the Army when it reached Ahmedabad?

— Why was there a delay in the declaration of curfew in Ahmedabad onFebruary 28, 2002 when curfew in other cities was declaredimmediately?

— Despite rules for this, why was there no arrangement for videographyof the violence by mobs in all districts of the State?

— Why were more Muslims killed in police firing during riots when itis well known that Muslims were the target of the mob violence?

— Why was there no monitoring of the instructions of senior officials,including Chief Secretary, officials of the Home Department and theDGP?

— Why was there no action against officials who failed to registerFIRs and why was there no adequate response to the complaints of riotvictims?

— Why was no action taken against supervisory officers, from districtsuperintendents of police to the level of police commissioners andDGP, who violated the Gujarat Police Manual by not properlysupervising the investigations of serious riot-related crimes andthereby committing culpable omission and grave misconduct?

— Why was no action taken on the supervisory officers whose negligentsupervision of the Bilkis Bano and Best Bakery mass massacre cases ledto those trials being transferred by the Supreme Court to Maharashtra?

— Why has there been no further investigation of the depositions ofIPS officer Rahul Sharma before the Nanavati Commission, to reveal thelocation of BJP leaders and senior officers of police during theriots?

— Many calls were made to Modi, his Cabinet Ministers, the thenAhmedabad Police Commissioner, P.C. Pandey, and the then DGP, K.Chakravarti, during the riots. Their phone records must be examined tounearth the facts.

Amitabh BachchanThe Congress' attacks on mega star Amitabh Bachchanover being brand ambassador of Gujarat have not been at the behest ofparty president Sonia Gandhi or her MP son Rahul Gandhi, expelledSamajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said Thursday.

"Personally, I have full faith that this whole act (the Congress'statements) could not have been done at the level of Sonia Gandhi andRahul Gandhi," Amar Singh, a close friend of Bachchan, said in thelatest post on his blog. Amar Singh said he had interacted many timeswith the top leadership of the Congress on political issues but hadnot found any streak of vindictiveness in them.

The Congress had asked Bachchan to clarify whether he, as brandambassador for Gujarat, endorsed the 2002 riots in the state even asChief Minister Narendra Modi himself is being questioned in the matterby a Supreme Court appointed investigation team.

But referring to the Gandhi family, Singh said: "The family, whosedaughter is sensitive to the killer of her father, the family whichhas piety even for those who had committed this detestable act, theirheart cannot be so harsh to the family of Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchanand Teji Bachchan, leave Amitabh."

He said proof of this was that Bachchan's daughter-in-law AishwaryaRai got the Padma Shri award during the United Progressive Alliance(UPA) government's rule and Bachchan was given the best actor award.He said some of his associates feel the "unnecessary propaganda" hasbeen started by a person "who wanted me to make anti-Congress remarksin my love for Bachchan".

While Singh has openly criticised Bachchan's wife Jaya Bachchan forstaying put in the Samajwadi Party, he defended the mega star over hisacceptance of Modi's offer to be brand ambassador of Gujarat. Singhsaid: "Leave Modi to the Supreme Court and the Bachchan family to itsart and culture." Recounting that he and Bachchan shared the dais atPune Tuesday, Singh also took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party's(BJP) "sudden love" for the actor. Singh added BJP leader L.K. Advaniand the late Pramod Mahajan had rejected Bachchan's plea to take stepsto prevent disruption of the world beauty pageant in Bangalore in1996. "Today, BJP has suddenly realised the actor in Amitabh.Whichever the party, honour and dishonour of an artist should havepermanence and should not be based on political self-interest," hesaid.

Asserting that there was a vast difference between the "communalpolitics" of Modi and promoting tourism in Gujarat, Singh said filmdirector "Yash Chopra and actor Shah Rukh Khan had made films on BJPleader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and theycontinued to be close to parties opposed to the BJP as well". He saidactor Salman Khan too has canvassed for his friends both in the BJPand the Congress.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the state-widebandh called by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthy Parishad (ABVP) tomorrow toprotest against police lathicharge on its activists at the secretariatpolice station on March 29.State police headquarters sources said all the police stations havebeen put on a maximum alert and patrolling was intensified to ensurenormal movement of trains and vehicular traffic.

Police personnel would be posted at the universities and colleges, thesources said.

ABVP General Secretary Amritanshu said the VHP and Bajrang Dalextended their support for tomorrow's shutdown.

He said the strike has also been called to protest against NitishKumar government's move to set up a unit of the Aligarh MuslimUniversity at Kishanganj in Bihar.

- AGENCIES

6 Responses to "ABVP calls for Bihar bandh"

i do understand the apprehension of A.B.V.P but having said that ialso believe that empowerment of MUSLIMS should be given utmostpriority otherwise the community would remain laggard for years tocome. The AMU at kisanganj should spearhead a revolution in theempowerment of Muslims and bring it closer to the mainstream INDIA.

NISHANT KUMAR April 1st, 2010 4:52 pm

I think setting up AMU central university branch is good move.

Sandip April 1st, 2010 3:03 pm

thanks guys for ur voice against abvp…that's completely true that theynever initiated their step to bring central university in bihar andnow when somebody needs their appreciation they r protesting..shame onabvp…i don't think anybody of them has truly been a vidyarthi,just dirtypolitician..baba come out of politics and go earn ur livelihood,u r nomore needed in the politics of bihar..i appeal to biharis to come together against this kind of unwantedstrike,pls let bihar grow with its current speed….

ghazanfar April 1st, 2010 12:46 pm

I condemn the protest of AVBP. They are doing it for cheap popularity.I appriciate the police lathi charge on AVBP activist.

JAI BIHAR!Acha Bihari Banye

Raman Gopal April 1st, 2010 9:42 am

BJP or ABVP doesn'nt set-up any university or college in Bihar . Nowwhen AMU is being set-up they are creating ruckus and theories tooppose the educatinal development in bihar.Creating educational institues will mobilise Biharis youth on theright path of education . nitihs kumar should open more instituion inBihar , Muslim colleges, Christian college, Buddhist coleges , jaincolleges all is welcome to start in Bihar .Jai bihar !! All is well !! Jai Buddha !!

BJP Goes cheap April 1st, 2010 4:55 am

Hey what happened to thakrey's support. That will be really great .ABVP should have requested Bjp for that.

Where was abvp when no central university was in Bihar, just to makesome noise…. Good work abvp…. No wonder bjp is going down

Sex is exciting, but it's nothing new. It's possible that for as longas we've had sex, we've had people who wrote about sex and thoughtabout what it means and what might make it more meaningful. Tantricsex and teaching about Tantric sexuality represent one of the oldestexamples of a philosophy of spiritual sexuality that continues to bepracticed today.

What is Tantra?

One translation of the word Tantra is "tools for expansion." Tantra isover 1500 years old, and like yoga it originated in India. It is a setof teachings and practices that are specifically designed to help usfeel more, to increase our awareness of our own energy and the energyaround us. The path that Tantra uses to these ends is the explorationof sexual energy.The goal of Tantric sex is to allow us to experience more depth andbreadth in our sexuality. The goal is not necessarily orgasm, butrather enriching the whole sexual experience.

Is Tantra a Religion?

While traditional Tantric teachings refer to concepts such as"universal energy" or "higher power" the teachings are, in many cases,not about stubbornly sticking to one set of beliefs or rules. If youare interested in the idea of sexual expression bringing you closer toa higher power, you will find much in Tantra that speaks to you. Ifyou are looking for a way to enhance or deepen your sexual connectionwith your partner, Tantra can offer many wonderful opportunitieswithout requiring that you follow any specific set of beliefs.Who is Tantric Sex Good For?

Many of the teachings are about desire and the experience of sexualenergy. Unlike western approaches to improving your sex life, Tantrateachings do not focus on external evaluations of what our body lookslike, what kind of car we drive, how we wear our hair. In this wayTantric sex teaching are open to anyone who is interested in exploringa new path to sexual fulfillment.Incorporating ideas of Tantra into your sex life can be somethinganyone does, regardless of age, sexual orientation, and what your bodylooks, like, how it feels, how it moves, etc…

What are Chakras?

Tantra distinguishes many different energy systems within us. One ofthese that you might have already read about is chakras; energycenters in the body between the pelvis and the top of the head. Inthis system of thought, there is the idea that the smooth flow ofenergy in our bodies can get stuck somewhere in the system blockedfrom moving freely or depleted for a variety of reasons. Tantricpractice works toward keeping energy flowing through us smoothly andnaturally.What is Tantric Sex Like?

Tantra is different from western ideas about sex in some otherimportant ways. The western concept of sex is like a story with aclear beginning (sexual excitement), middle (penetration), and end(orgasm). This is the way it's supposed to be and if you don't followthe story, something is wrong. Sex without penetration is often viewedas being "not real" or "merely" foreplay.In Tantric sex the point of sex is not orgasm, the point is to feel.There is no clear cut beginning middle or end. Most of the exercisesrelated to Tantric sex involve slowing things down, trying not tofocus on our external body, or orgasm, or anything outside of ourexperience of the moment.

Without a focus on orgasm, the goal becomes increased awarenessleading to greater understanding of ourselves, which eventually leadsto enlightenment. There is no pressure to "get over the top". Thisdoesn't mean that orgasm doesn't exist in Tantra, it just isn't the beall and end all. The spiritual practice and the good sexual feelingsare inter-related, each leading back to, and improving the other.

What Tantric sex "looks like" will be different for different people.Tantra is taught by many teachers around the world, who have their owntake on it, influenced by the cultures they grew up in. Certainly akey feature of Tantric sex is the importance of breathing, and slowingdown sexual behavior compared to the hectic, orgasm-focused NorthAmerican approach. [h4]Recommended Reading[/h4]

Since discovering his passion for talking and teaching about sex, CorySilverberg has worked in as many areas of sexuality as he can findtime for. He is a sexuality media consultant, a founding member of aworker co-operative sex store, a sex educator, a frequent contributorto national media, and the co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex andDisability. He also has conducted workshops across North America onthe topic of sex and technology, sex toys, sexual communication, andsexuality and disability.

Education:

Cory received an honors BA in psychology from York University and aMasters degree in counseling psychology from The Ontario Institute forStudies in Education at The University of Toronto. His area ofresearch in both degrees was human sexuality.

From Cory Silverberg:

"Sexuality is the best and most interesting way for me to understandthe world and the people around me. On this site you will findfriendly, non-judgmental, and accessible information, encouragement,and advice that will try to get you to think about sex in differentways."

Thanks for visiting sexuality.about.com. Most of the questions peopleemail me already have answers (or suggestions for where you can findthe answers) on the site. If you can't find what you're looking for,if you have suggestions about ways to improve this site, or if youhave a comment that you don't think would fit into the forums, feelfree to email me. I may not always have an answer, but I'm happy totry. Unfortunately it takes me some time to get to all the emails, soI can't promise an immediate response. You can email me atsexuality.guide@about.com

The Sexuality, Gender and Rights Institute is an annual, week-long,residential course that focuses on a conceptual study of sexuality. Itexamines the links between sexuality, rights, gender, and health andtheir interface with socio-cultural and legal issues. Participantswill critically analyze policy, research and program interventionsusing a rights-based approach.The content of the course sounds great, and the list of participatingfaculty is crush worthy (in a very thoughtful, academic, kind of way,of course).

The deadline for applications is April 18th. More information andapplications are available on their website.

What's the Difference Between Lasting Longer for Sex, and Sex thatLasts Longer?Friday March 26, 2010

"Please. I want to last longer."

Every week I receive a few emails with variations of this request. Theemails are usually from people identifying themselves as male who aremost often having sex with women. The rarely offer up details aboutthe sex they are having. The emails are brief and polite. The emailerwants to provide more pleasure for his partner, and believes thatbeing able to last longer will solve their problem.

I have a different problem. I need to know what they want to lastlonger at. You may think it's obvious; that everyone wants to makeintercourse last longer. But that's not obvious to me. I have thebenefit of talking with thousands of people a year about their sexlives so I know that sex is more than intercourse. If you're someonefor whom sex has always been all about intercourse, it makes sensethat you'd think that your ability to maintain an erection duringintercourse defines your value as a sexual partner. It's hard to learnabout what other people's sex lives are really like. More often we endup reading statistics on average frequency of sex, or how long sexlasts. But statistics have a white washing effect, and they don'talways reflect individual experience.

So I usually start with a few questions of my own. When they respond(most don't, by the way) I can usually offer a few answers orresources, or at the very least, a different way of thinking about it.

Read the full article - Questions for Those Who Want to Last Longer

Sex Tips for the Rest of Us - Stop and Go Sex PlayWednesday March 24, 2010

Most sex tips I read don't apply to me at all. They assume too much,about my body, about my gender, about what I want from sex. I could goon, and on. But instead, over the years, I've been compiling sex ideasthat try not to assume or expect too much. I call them sex tips forthe rest of us.

This week's sex tip suggests a playful way to teach your partner whatkinds of sexual touch are working for you and what kinds are, not somuch. Nothing in our sexual response is set in stone, our bodies anddesires change over time, so don't think of this as writing thedefinitive story on what you like. It's more of a way to open up aline of communication often shut down by embarrassment and fear.

The Set

There are so many things we don't share with our partners about oursexual feelings. We might be embarrassed to disclose a sexual desirefor fear of being rejected, laughed at, or told we're perverted. Wemight not tell a partner that we prefer one kind of touch or activityto another for fear of hurting their feelings. We all do this attimes. Not telling a partner that you'd rather them go faster orslower, a little to the left or a little to the right, isn't the endof the world. But it's a silence where we all lose out. If you're in along term relationship and have established patterns of being sexualwith each other, it can seem especially hard to break that pattern bysaying you do or don't like something new. This sex tip offers a funway to do just that.

The Exercise

The exercise is simple. Pick a time when you have (ideally) a fewhours of uninterrupted time and privacy. Pick a place you're bothcomfortable physically and a setting where you can both get as nakedas you want to be. You're going to take turns touching each other. Youbegin by touching any part of your partner's body. Stroke their hair,offer a back massage, move in right for a handjob, whatever. Yourpartner takes a minute or two to feel your touch and then has to sayone of six words: "stop," "slower," "faster," "softer," "harder," or"keep going". If they say stop, then you switch and your partnerbegins to touch you. If they say any of the other words, you need todo what they ask. You go for five minutes, and then switch (yes, evenif you're almost "there", you must switch at five minutes!)

The point of this sex tip isn't to help you find each others "perfect"way of being touched. There's no such thing as a touch that's alwaysperfect. It might be frustrating that you only have four words tochoose from, but the game is designed to make you more aware of thelimits you put on yourself and your mutual sexual pleasure by nottalking at all. It's also meant to make the mechanics of sexual touchmore like a game, just for the time being.

Try to do this for at least three turns each. Once you're done, youmay want to keep having sex. Whether you do or don't, at some pointlater on, talk about how it felt both to give such structured feedbackto your partner and also to hear the feedback. Did you feel bad whenyou're partner said stop? We're you surprised at the times when theywanted faster or slower touch? Are there things you learned doing thisthat you think will change the way you both give and receive sexualtouch?

Taking One Step Forward and Two Steps Back in the Sex Toy IndustryMonday March 22, 2010

It's a time of great change in the sex toy industry. On the one handan industry that has been, for almost 60 years, controlled by a smallnumber of big players, is seeing increasing competition from small andmedium sized manufacturers who are bringing basic business sense to aproduct category that has thrived often in spite of itself. On theother, the "big players" are in danger of being eclipsed by muchbigger players, huge multinational corporations (such as SSL, Churchand Dwight, and most recently, Phillips) moving into the sex toymarket, wide eyed with excitement over huge profit margins and, whatoften seems like, an easy sell.

If you believe that capitalism is good, then you could say that theultimate winner in all this is the consumer. Partly because I'm notsure about capitalism, and partly because I'm more interested ineducation than commerce, I'm skeptical that a more sophisticatedcommercialization of sexual desire is in fact any better than what wecurrently have.

In any case, because I'm a sex toy industry nerd I follow all of thiswith great interest. I want the industry to continue developing. Andwhile I have high hopes, often I'm reminded that evolution,particularly when sex is involved, can take time. Take two recentbusiness pieces on the sex toy industry. JimmyJane was given a startup profile in Reuters small business news. The piece is interesting,and refreshingly it's written just as it would be for any other startup. But the vision of the company, and particularly it's founder,Ethan Imboden, is undercut by the fact that most of it's backers areunwilling to associate themselves with the investment. In the articleone investor chalks this up to puritanism in Silicon Valley.

This may or may not be a problem, but it's interesting to think abouthow, as sexual pleasure products become less stigmatized and moreinvestors flock to this highly profitable category, thisquintessentially American relationship to sex will play out in apurely capitalist arena. Once the shareholders of WalMart see thewriting on the wall, will they be able to say no to a sexual pleasuresection in their stores? And what happens if it turns out, as Phillipsmay have discovered, that the way to make the most money is to beexplicit about the products you sell?

A different kind of conflict is seen in this marketing profile ofLovehoney. Lovehoney is a UK based online sex toy retailer, and one ofthe hardest working adult websites in the world. Creative, flexible,and tenacious, there isn't a marketing approach Lovehoney hasn'ttried, and they have been ahead of the curve among online adultretailers on a number of fronts. Which is partly why this interviewwith company co-founder Neal Slateford was so disappointing. Where theReuters piece was good because it treated Jimmyjane like any otherbusiness, the Econsultancy profile throws lobs at Lovehoney and seemsto think that reprinting a company press release is enough if thecompany sells sex toys. Can you imagine any other marketing profilewhere we would learn nothing about the companies market share, theirstrategies, or their vision of the future of the industry? To be fair,this isn't actually journalism, it's a profile on a organizationswebsite. But the step backward here is still worth noting. Lovehoney'sreticence to talk about the industry, to step ahead and know thatwhile others may follow, you can't break through if you're hiding inthe shadows, feels like a particularly old sex toy industry way ofdoing business.

Most Fun Sex Survey. Ever.Friday March 19, 2010

I often complain about quantitative social science research in thisblog. But I had the most fun I've had filling out boxes in a long timewith this adorable and frankly long overdue survey from Dr. DebbyHerbenick at Indiana University. The survey is called Sexual Intimacyand Expression: A Survey of Men and Women Who Live With Pets and trueto it's name it's all about the impact of your dogs and cats on yoursex life.

I laughed, I cried (from laughing), I had the chance to express someof my most conflicted and creative thoughts about having a dog whopretty much ALWAYS wants to be the center of attention.

If you've got a pet, check it out. If you know someone who does, passit along. It's all in the name of science.

Take the survey - Sexual Intimacy and Expression: A Survey of Men andWomen Who Live With Pets

We fret about erections. Those whose erections figure large in theirsex lives fret if they stop getting them, or if the ones they have noware different than the ones they had before. Those who rely on theerections of others for sex play fret if their partners lack oferection is a sign of lack of interest, lack of love, lack of lust.

Sex educators, desperately trying to derail unrealistic and narrowlyconceived sexual norms, fret about how much everyone frets abouterections. Forget the erections, we're sometimes heard shouting overthe ramparts. There are more tools in heaven and earth that canarouse. And some of them come with multiple speeds, if you hadn'tnoticed.

But toys, fingers, and other body parts aren't actually substitutesfor penises. They may at times be more pleasure producing, butsuggesting they are the same thing seems pig headed.

And as a recent German study points out, there may be more reasonsthan a crisis of virility for men and their partners to stand atattention when their erections aren't. From a prepared release:

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a strong predictor of death from allcauses and of heart attack, stroke and heart failure in men withcardiovascular disease (CVD), German researchers reported inCirculation: Journal of the American Heart Association.In the first study to show that ED is predictive of death andcardiovascular outcomes, researchers found that men with CVD and ED(compared to those without ED) were twice as likely to suffer deathfrom all causes and 1.6 times more likely to suffer the composite ofcardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke and heart failurehospitalization.

This isn't the first research to point out that erections (sensitiveas they are to the waxing and waning fortunes of circulation) aresomething of a canary in a coal mine when it comes to heart health.

The researchers of the most recent study are calling on men to thinkabout heart disease if they are noticing a change in their erectionsand calling on doctors to ask routinely about erectile functioning. Iguess there's an argument that this is good, anything that gets ustalking more about sexual health is positive. But in the absence ofproper sexual health training for doctors and in the context of ahealth care system that never gives physicians and patients time totalk about tricky subjects, it's hard to know if the kinds ofconversations that may happen as a result of this research and themedia coverage of it, will do anyone any good.

Also it would be nice if just once we didn't have to wait to be toldwe might DIE before we start talking about sex.

A recent study in the journal Sociology of Religion looks atAmerican's beliefs about divine intervention in their daily lives.Based on two large surveys of Americans (one of which was nationallyrepresentative) the paper reports on how much or little people believeGod is involved and influencing the events and activities of theirdaily lives. Among the findings, the study documented that:

•82% of participants say they depend on God for help and guidance inmaking decisions

•71 per cent believe that when good or bad things happen, theseoccurrences are simply part of God's plan for them

•61 per cent believe that God has determined the direction and courseof their lives

•32 per cent agree with the statement: "There is no sense in planninga lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands."

There are all sorts of critical questions to ask about what thesenumbers mean, especially since, if I understood the paper correctly,participants responded to questions whether or not they actuallybelieved in God (so they were asked to report what they thought Godwas like, even if they didn't believe in God).

But that's not why I'm sharing this information. Even if these numbersare off, and they are much lower, it got me thinking. If you believethat God is at all involved in your daily life, if you believe thereis a God who is making decisions or has a plan, and exerts aninfluence on your path, do you believe that God is involved in yoursex life? Is it God who influences your choice of sexual partners?What does God have to say about how much you like sex, or the kind ofsex you like?

I know a little bit about the various positions organized religionstake on sexuality (positions that are never uniform, even within onereligious faith or practice). I also know that there's a wholeChristian sex self-help industry. But what I'd like to know more aboutis whether people who feel God's presence in their daily lives alsofeel that presence in their sex lives.

I talk with lots of people about sex every day. And thinking on thisquestion I'm aware that sex is usually compartmentalized off fromother kinds of God-ish experiences.

So there are people who engage in specific kinds of sexual practicesthat they call spiritual (things like Tantric and Taoist sexualpractices). And they often talk about feeling as if sexual activitiesare a form of worship, that sex makes them feel closer to God. But Idon't hear those people talking so much about God outside of theirsexual practice.

And then there are people who (as this study suggests) feel as if Godis influencing their daily lives, but those folks don't talk so muchabout sex.

This may or may not be the best place to ask (and for goodness sake,if you're going to leave a comment below please be kind) but it seemsto me that there must be all sorts of voices missing from theseconversations, and I'm genuinely curious. If you do believe that Godis involved in your everyday life, how much do you think about thatwhen you think about sex and sexuality?

It wasn't their intention, I'm sure, but this obnoxious andcondescending CNBC piece about porn actors retiring reads like aspecial interest story about 6-year-old Timmy who got is very own bankaccount. Who could have imagined that porn actors do things like thinkabout their careers, invest their savings, and plan for their futures?Isn't it darling the way they talk about retirement and take on othersorts of work? It's almost like they're real grown ups!

Business media outlets should cover sex work and the people who do it,just like they do workers in almost every other industry. I only wishthey made even the slightest attempt to keep their sex bias in check,and did a little thinking before they wrote. I'd like to hear howMarketplace would cover sex workers. Somehow I feel it would be wayless annoying.

CNBC.com: Life After Porn: The Retirement Challenge

Heart Sex

Tuesday March 9, 2010

The mind may be our greatest sexual organ, but without the heart, oursex lives, just like the rest of our lives, wouldn't exist. Until you,or someone you're having sex with, has a heart attack or is diagnosedwith heart disease, you probably won't think too much about therelationship between your heart and your sex life. But therelationship is intimate, and having a basic understanding of bothsexual health and heart health is an important way to minimize yourrisk and maximize your health and pleasure.

Since the DSM working group began announcing their proposals for newsexual diagnoses, I've been slowly making my way through the researchthat their proposals are based on, trying to glean some idea of howthey arrived at what sometimes seem like fantastical proposals for thenext twenty years of psychiatric intervention in our sex lives.

In the meantime the media's fascination with sex addiction hasincreased, thanks to the latest celebrity sex news (I'm waiting forsomeone to call Mo'Nique's husband a sex addict and Mo'Nique herselfan enabler based on her refreshing honesty in an interview withBarbara Walters about her marriage).

You don't need me to point you to articles that misunderstand andmisrepresent sex addiction. That's most of them. I thought I'd pointout two three articles in the past two months that try to do theopposite.

"Henceforth, Sania will not remain an Indian. Had her heart beenIndian, it wouldn't have beaten for a Pakistani. If she wished toplay for India, she should have chosen an Indian life partner," 84-year-old Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece'Saamana'.

"More than victories on tennis court, Sania became famous for hertight clothes, fashion and love affairs," Thackeray alleged.

"More than her play, people's attention was on her mannerisms," heclaimed.

The Shiv Sena supremo alleged that "for Shoaib, India is an enemy,not only in sports arena but also in the battlefield.

"We have heard that Shoaib has many affairs in India and has promisedmany girls he will marry them," he said.

Thackeray also expressed surprise over the alacrity with whichSania's family members were granted Pakistani visas.

"Getting a Pakistani visa is tough even for a singer like LataMangeshkar," he said.

23-year-old Sania, who is the most successful woman tennis playerfrom the sub-continent, will settle down with 28-year-old Shoaib inDubai after their marriage on April 15 in Hyderabad.

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== 2 of 8 ==Date: Fri, Apr 2 2010 4:12 am From: wkhedr

she can marry who ever she wants, she is happy and she made herchoice.People need to focus on their own business.

== 3 of 8 ==Date: Fri, Apr 2 2010 4:22 am From: Romanise

On Apr 2, 12:12 pm, wkhedr <wkh...@my-deja.com> wrote:> she can marry who ever she wants, she is happy and she made her> choice.> People need to focus on their own business.

That is true.

But future for her is going to be difficult either in India or inPakistan.

== 4 of 8 ==Date: Fri, Apr 2 2010 4:26 am From: wkhedr

On Apr 2, 1:22 pm, Romanise <josh...@gmail.com> wrote:> On Apr 2, 12:12 pm, wkhedr <wkh...@my-deja.com> wrote:>> > she can marry who ever she wants, she is happy and she made her> > choice.> > People need to focus on their own business.>> That is true.>> But future for her is going to be difficult either in India or in> Pakistan.

They will live in Dubai.

== 5 of 8 ==Date: Fri, Apr 2 2010 4:43 am From: Romanise

On Apr 2, 12:26 pm, wkhedr <wkh...@my-deja.com> wrote:> On Apr 2, 1:22 pm, Romanise <josh...@gmail.com> wrote:>> > On Apr 2, 12:12 pm, wkhedr <wkh...@my-deja.com> wrote:>> > > she can marry who ever she wants, she is happy and she made her> > > choice.> > > People need to focus on their own business.>> > That is true.>> > But future for her is going to be difficult either in India or in> > Pakistan.>> They will live in Dubai.

Wish them luck. Almost like M F Hussain. Wonder what contributionthey can make there to what. They are not in their eighties.

Sex is exciting, but it's nothing new. It's possible that for as longas we've had sex, we've had people who wrote about sex and thoughtabout what it means and what might make it more meaningful. Tantricsex and teaching about Tantric sexuality represent one of the oldestexamples of a philosophy of spiritual sexuality that continues to bepracticed today.

What is Tantra?

One translation of the word Tantra is "tools for expansion." Tantra isover 1500 years old, and like yoga it originated in India. It is a setof teachings and practices that are specifically designed to help usfeel more, to increase our awareness of our own energy and the energyaround us. The path that Tantra uses to these ends is the explorationof sexual energy.The goal of Tantric sex is to allow us to experience more depth andbreadth in our sexuality. The goal is not necessarily orgasm, butrather enriching the whole sexual experience.

Is Tantra a Religion?

While traditional Tantric teachings refer to concepts such as"universal energy" or "higher power" the teachings are, in many cases,not about stubbornly sticking to one set of beliefs or rules. If youare interested in the idea of sexual expression bringing you closer toa higher power, you will find much in Tantra that speaks to you. Ifyou are looking for a way to enhance or deepen your sexual connectionwith your partner, Tantra can offer many wonderful opportunitieswithout requiring that you follow any specific set of beliefs.Who is Tantric Sex Good For?

Many of the teachings are about desire and the experience of sexualenergy. Unlike western approaches to improving your sex life, Tantrateachings do not focus on external evaluations of what our body lookslike, what kind of car we drive, how we wear our hair. In this wayTantric sex teaching are open to anyone who is interested in exploringa new path to sexual fulfillment.Incorporating ideas of Tantra into your sex life can be somethinganyone does, regardless of age, sexual orientation, and what your bodylooks, like, how it feels, how it moves, etc…

What are Chakras?

Tantra distinguishes many different energy systems within us. One ofthese that you might have already read about is chakras; energycenters in the body between the pelvis and the top of the head. Inthis system of thought, there is the idea that the smooth flow ofenergy in our bodies can get stuck somewhere in the system blockedfrom moving freely or depleted for a variety of reasons. Tantricpractice works toward keeping energy flowing through us smoothly andnaturally.What is Tantric Sex Like?

Tantra is different from western ideas about sex in some otherimportant ways. The western concept of sex is like a story with aclear beginning (sexual excitement), middle (penetration), and end(orgasm). This is the way it's supposed to be and if you don't followthe story, something is wrong. Sex without penetration is often viewedas being "not real" or "merely" foreplay.In Tantric sex the point of sex is not orgasm, the point is to feel.There is no clear cut beginning middle or end. Most of the exercisesrelated to Tantric sex involve slowing things down, trying not tofocus on our external body, or orgasm, or anything outside of ourexperience of the moment.

Without a focus on orgasm, the goal becomes increased awarenessleading to greater understanding of ourselves, which eventually leadsto enlightenment. There is no pressure to "get over the top". Thisdoesn't mean that orgasm doesn't exist in Tantra, it just isn't the beall and end all. The spiritual practice and the good sexual feelingsare inter-related, each leading back to, and improving the other.

What Tantric sex "looks like" will be different for different people.Tantra is taught by many teachers around the world, who have their owntake on it, influenced by the cultures they grew up in. Certainly akey feature of Tantric sex is the importance of breathing, and slowingdown sexual behavior compared to the hectic, orgasm-focused NorthAmerican approach. [h4]Recommended Reading[/h4]

Since discovering his passion for talking and teaching about sex, CorySilverberg has worked in as many areas of sexuality as he can findtime for. He is a sexuality media consultant, a founding member of aworker co-operative sex store, a sex educator, a frequent contributorto national media, and the co-author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex andDisability. He also has conducted workshops across North America onthe topic of sex and technology, sex toys, sexual communication, andsexuality and disability.

Education:

Cory received an honors BA in psychology from York University and aMasters degree in counseling psychology from The Ontario Institute forStudies in Education at The University of Toronto. His area ofresearch in both degrees was human sexuality.

From Cory Silverberg:

"Sexuality is the best and most interesting way for me to understandthe world and the people around me. On this site you will findfriendly, non-judgmental, and accessible information, encouragement,and advice that will try to get you to think about sex in differentways."

Thanks for visiting sexuality.about.com. Most of the questions peopleemail me already have answers (or suggestions for where you can findthe answers) on the site. If you can't find what you're looking for,if you have suggestions about ways to improve this site, or if youhave a comment that you don't think would fit into the forums, feelfree to email me. I may not always have an answer, but I'm happy totry. Unfortunately it takes me some time to get to all the emails, soI can't promise an immediate response. You can email me atsexuality.guide@about.com

The Sexuality, Gender and Rights Institute is an annual, week-long,residential course that focuses on a conceptual study of sexuality. Itexamines the links between sexuality, rights, gender, and health andtheir interface with socio-cultural and legal issues. Participantswill critically analyze policy, research and program interventionsusing a rights-based approach.The content of the course sounds great, and the list of participatingfaculty is crush worthy (in a very thoughtful, academic, kind of way,of course).

The deadline for applications is April 18th. More information andapplications are available on their website.

What's the Difference Between Lasting Longer for Sex, and Sex thatLasts Longer?Friday March 26, 2010

"Please. I want to last longer."

Every week I receive a few emails with variations of this request. Theemails are usually from people identifying themselves as male who aremost often having sex with women. The rarely offer up details aboutthe sex they are having. The emails are brief and polite. The emailerwants to provide more pleasure for his partner, and believes thatbeing able to last longer will solve their problem.

I have a different problem. I need to know what they want to lastlonger at. You may think it's obvious; that everyone wants to makeintercourse last longer. But that's not obvious to me. I have thebenefit of talking with thousands of people a year about their sexlives so I know that sex is more than intercourse. If you're someonefor whom sex has always been all about intercourse, it makes sensethat you'd think that your ability to maintain an erection duringintercourse defines your value as a sexual partner. It's hard to learnabout what other people's sex lives are really like. More often we endup reading statistics on average frequency of sex, or how long sexlasts. But statistics have a white washing effect, and they don'talways reflect individual experience.

So I usually start with a few questions of my own. When they respond(most don't, by the way) I can usually offer a few answers orresources, or at the very least, a different way of thinking about it.

Read the full article - Questions for Those Who Want to Last Longer

Sex Tips for the Rest of Us - Stop and Go Sex PlayWednesday March 24, 2010

Most sex tips I read don't apply to me at all. They assume too much,about my body, about my gender, about what I want from sex. I could goon, and on. But instead, over the years, I've been compiling sex ideasthat try not to assume or expect too much. I call them sex tips forthe rest of us.

This week's sex tip suggests a playful way to teach your partner whatkinds of sexual touch are working for you and what kinds are, not somuch. Nothing in our sexual response is set in stone, our bodies anddesires change over time, so don't think of this as writing thedefinitive story on what you like. It's more of a way to open up aline of communication often shut down by embarrassment and fear.

The Set

There are so many things we don't share with our partners about oursexual feelings. We might be embarrassed to disclose a sexual desirefor fear of being rejected, laughed at, or told we're perverted. Wemight not tell a partner that we prefer one kind of touch or activityto another for fear of hurting their feelings. We all do this attimes. Not telling a partner that you'd rather them go faster orslower, a little to the left or a little to the right, isn't the endof the world. But it's a silence where we all lose out. If you're in along term relationship and have established patterns of being sexualwith each other, it can seem especially hard to break that pattern bysaying you do or don't like something new. This sex tip offers a funway to do just that.

The Exercise

The exercise is simple. Pick a time when you have (ideally) a fewhours of uninterrupted time and privacy. Pick a place you're bothcomfortable physically and a setting where you can both get as nakedas you want to be. You're going to take turns touching each other. Youbegin by touching any part of your partner's body. Stroke their hair,offer a back massage, move in right for a handjob, whatever. Yourpartner takes a minute or two to feel your touch and then has to sayone of six words: "stop," "slower," "faster," "softer," "harder," or"keep going". If they say stop, then you switch and your partnerbegins to touch you. If they say any of the other words, you need todo what they ask. You go for five minutes, and then switch (yes, evenif you're almost "there", you must switch at five minutes!)

The point of this sex tip isn't to help you find each others "perfect"way of being touched. There's no such thing as a touch that's alwaysperfect. It might be frustrating that you only have four words tochoose from, but the game is designed to make you more aware of thelimits you put on yourself and your mutual sexual pleasure by nottalking at all. It's also meant to make the mechanics of sexual touchmore like a game, just for the time being.

Try to do this for at least three turns each. Once you're done, youmay want to keep having sex. Whether you do or don't, at some pointlater on, talk about how it felt both to give such structured feedbackto your partner and also to hear the feedback. Did you feel bad whenyou're partner said stop? We're you surprised at the times when theywanted faster or slower touch? Are there things you learned doing thisthat you think will change the way you both give and receive sexualtouch?

Taking One Step Forward and Two Steps Back in the Sex Toy IndustryMonday March 22, 2010

It's a time of great change in the sex toy industry. On the one handan industry that has been, for almost 60 years, controlled by a smallnumber of big players, is seeing increasing competition from small andmedium sized manufacturers who are bringing basic business sense to aproduct category that has thrived often in spite of itself. On theother, the "big players" are in danger of being eclipsed by muchbigger players, huge multinational corporations (such as SSL, Churchand Dwight, and most recently, Phillips) moving into the sex toymarket, wide eyed with excitement over huge profit margins and, whatoften seems like, an easy sell.

If you believe that capitalism is good, then you could say that theultimate winner in all this is the consumer. Partly because I'm notsure about capitalism, and partly because I'm more interested ineducation than commerce, I'm skeptical that a more sophisticatedcommercialization of sexual desire is in fact any better than what wecurrently have.

In any case, because I'm a sex toy industry nerd I follow all of thiswith great interest. I want the industry to continue developing. Andwhile I have high hopes, often I'm reminded that evolution,particularly when sex is involved, can take time. Take two recentbusiness pieces on the sex toy industry. JimmyJane was given a startup profile in Reuters small business news. The piece is interesting,and refreshingly it's written just as it would be for any other startup. But the vision of the company, and particularly it's founder,Ethan Imboden, is undercut by the fact that most of it's backers areunwilling to associate themselves with the investment. In the articleone investor chalks this up to puritanism in Silicon Valley.

This may or may not be a problem, but it's interesting to think abouthow, as sexual pleasure products become less stigmatized and moreinvestors flock to this highly profitable category, thisquintessentially American relationship to sex will play out in apurely capitalist arena. Once the shareholders of WalMart see thewriting on the wall, will they be able to say no to a sexual pleasuresection in their stores? And what happens if it turns out, as Phillipsmay have discovered, that the way to make the most money is to beexplicit about the products you sell?

A different kind of conflict is seen in this marketing profile ofLovehoney. Lovehoney is a UK based online sex toy retailer, and one ofthe hardest working adult websites in the world. Creative, flexible,and tenacious, there isn't a marketing approach Lovehoney hasn'ttried, and they have been ahead of the curve among online adultretailers on a number of fronts. Which is partly why this interviewwith company co-founder Neal Slateford was so disappointing. Where theReuters piece was good because it treated Jimmyjane like any otherbusiness, the Econsultancy profile throws lobs at Lovehoney and seemsto think that reprinting a company press release is enough if thecompany sells sex toys. Can you imagine any other marketing profilewhere we would learn nothing about the companies market share, theirstrategies, or their vision of the future of the industry? To be fair,this isn't actually journalism, it's a profile on a organizationswebsite. But the step backward here is still worth noting. Lovehoney'sreticence to talk about the industry, to step ahead and know thatwhile others may follow, you can't break through if you're hiding inthe shadows, feels like a particularly old sex toy industry way ofdoing business.

Most Fun Sex Survey. Ever.Friday March 19, 2010

I often complain about quantitative social science research in thisblog. But I had the most fun I've had filling out boxes in a long timewith this adorable and frankly long overdue survey from Dr. DebbyHerbenick at Indiana University. The survey is called Sexual Intimacyand Expression: A Survey of Men and Women Who Live With Pets and trueto it's name it's all about the impact of your dogs and cats on yoursex life.

I laughed, I cried (from laughing), I had the chance to express someof my most conflicted and creative thoughts about having a dog whopretty much ALWAYS wants to be the center of attention.

If you've got a pet, check it out. If you know someone who does, passit along. It's all in the name of science.

Take the survey - Sexual Intimacy and Expression: A Survey of Men andWomen Who Live With Pets

We fret about erections. Those whose erections figure large in theirsex lives fret if they stop getting them, or if the ones they have noware different than the ones they had before. Those who rely on theerections of others for sex play fret if their partners lack oferection is a sign of lack of interest, lack of love, lack of lust.

Sex educators, desperately trying to derail unrealistic and narrowlyconceived sexual norms, fret about how much everyone frets abouterections. Forget the erections, we're sometimes heard shouting overthe ramparts. There are more tools in heaven and earth that canarouse. And some of them come with multiple speeds, if you hadn'tnoticed.

But toys, fingers, and other body parts aren't actually substitutesfor penises. They may at times be more pleasure producing, butsuggesting they are the same thing seems pig headed.

And as a recent German study points out, there may be more reasonsthan a crisis of virility for men and their partners to stand atattention when their erections aren't. From a prepared release:

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a strong predictor of death from allcauses and of heart attack, stroke and heart failure in men withcardiovascular disease (CVD), German researchers reported inCirculation: Journal of the American Heart Association.In the first study to show that ED is predictive of death andcardiovascular outcomes, researchers found that men with CVD and ED(compared to those without ED) were twice as likely to suffer deathfrom all causes and 1.6 times more likely to suffer the composite ofcardiovascular death, heart attack, stroke and heart failurehospitalization.

This isn't the first research to point out that erections (sensitiveas they are to the waxing and waning fortunes of circulation) aresomething of a canary in a coal mine when it comes to heart health.

The researchers of the most recent study are calling on men to thinkabout heart disease if they are noticing a change in their erectionsand calling on doctors to ask routinely about erectile functioning. Iguess there's an argument that this is good, anything that gets ustalking more about sexual health is positive. But in the absence ofproper sexual health training for doctors and in the context of ahealth care system that never gives physicians and patients time totalk about tricky subjects, it's hard to know if the kinds ofconversations that may happen as a result of this research and themedia coverage of it, will do anyone any good.

Also it would be nice if just once we didn't have to wait to be toldwe might DIE before we start talking about sex.

A recent study in the journal Sociology of Religion looks atAmerican's beliefs about divine intervention in their daily lives.Based on two large surveys of Americans (one of which was nationallyrepresentative) the paper reports on how much or little people believeGod is involved and influencing the events and activities of theirdaily lives. Among the findings, the study documented that:

•82% of participants say they depend on God for help and guidance inmaking decisions

•71 per cent believe that when good or bad things happen, theseoccurrences are simply part of God's plan for them

•61 per cent believe that God has determined the direction and courseof their lives

•32 per cent agree with the statement: "There is no sense in planninga lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands."

There are all sorts of critical questions to ask about what thesenumbers mean, especially since, if I understood the paper correctly,participants responded to questions whether or not they actuallybelieved in God (so they were asked to report what they thought Godwas like, even if they didn't believe in God).

But that's not why I'm sharing this information. Even if these numbersare off, and they are much lower, it got me thinking. If you believethat God is at all involved in your daily life, if you believe thereis a God who is making decisions or has a plan, and exerts aninfluence on your path, do you believe that God is involved in yoursex life? Is it God who influences your choice of sexual partners?What does God have to say about how much you like sex, or the kind ofsex you like?

I know a little bit about the various positions organized religionstake on sexuality (positions that are never uniform, even within onereligious faith or practice). I also know that there's a wholeChristian sex self-help industry. But what I'd like to know more aboutis whether people who feel God's presence in their daily lives alsofeel that presence in their sex lives.

I talk with lots of people about sex every day. And thinking on thisquestion I'm aware that sex is usually compartmentalized off fromother kinds of God-ish experiences.

So there are people who engage in specific kinds of sexual practicesthat they call spiritual (things like Tantric and Taoist sexualpractices). And they often talk about feeling as if sexual activitiesare a form of worship, that sex makes them feel closer to God. But Idon't hear those people talking so much about God outside of theirsexual practice.

And then there are people who (as this study suggests) feel as if Godis influencing their daily lives, but those folks don't talk so muchabout sex.

This may or may not be the best place to ask (and for goodness sake,if you're going to leave a comment below please be kind) but it seemsto me that there must be all sorts of voices missing from theseconversations, and I'm genuinely curious. If you do believe that Godis involved in your everyday life, how much do you think about thatwhen you think about sex and sexuality?

It wasn't their intention, I'm sure, but this obnoxious andcondescending CNBC piece about porn actors retiring reads like aspecial interest story about 6-year-old Timmy who got is very own bankaccount. Who could have imagined that porn actors do things like thinkabout their careers, invest their savings, and plan for their futures?Isn't it darling the way they talk about retirement and take on othersorts of work? It's almost like they're real grown ups!

Business media outlets should cover sex work and the people who do it,just like they do workers in almost every other industry. I only wishthey made even the slightest attempt to keep their sex bias in check,and did a little thinking before they wrote. I'd like to hear howMarketplace would cover sex workers. Somehow I feel it would be wayless annoying.

CNBC.com: Life After Porn: The Retirement Challenge

Heart Sex

Tuesday March 9, 2010

The mind may be our greatest sexual organ, but without the heart, oursex lives, just like the rest of our lives, wouldn't exist. Until you,or someone you're having sex with, has a heart attack or is diagnosedwith heart disease, you probably won't think too much about therelationship between your heart and your sex life. But therelationship is intimate, and having a basic understanding of bothsexual health and heart health is an important way to minimize yourrisk and maximize your health and pleasure.

Since the DSM working group began announcing their proposals for newsexual diagnoses, I've been slowly making my way through the researchthat their proposals are based on, trying to glean some idea of howthey arrived at what sometimes seem like fantastical proposals for thenext twenty years of psychiatric intervention in our sex lives.

In the meantime the media's fascination with sex addiction hasincreased, thanks to the latest celebrity sex news (I'm waiting forsomeone to call Mo'Nique's husband a sex addict and Mo'Nique herselfan enabler based on her refreshing honesty in an interview withBarbara Walters about her marriage).

You don't need me to point you to articles that misunderstand andmisrepresent sex addiction. That's most of them. I thought I'd pointout two three articles in the past two months that try to do theopposite.